Middle East university

The history of Middle East University began in 1908 when George Keough and his wife, Mary (Alderson), from England arrived in Egypt where he would serve as a pastor and administrator for the next 20 years. As Pastor Keough witnessed the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East, he keenly sensed the need of starting a training center for the young people of the region. If God’s work was going to grow at all, He needed workers in the next generation who could speak. The progressive idea never left him as he returned to his homeland where he taught in the religion department of Stanborough School and Newbold College.

In 1949, the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Learning granted the institution the accreditation to offer studies in higher education. On June 28, 2001, Middle East College was formally and legally renamed Middle East University (MEU). This significant development further validated the role of MEU as an important center of higher education for the people of Lebanon and the Middle East.

Not long after, he was officially asked to open a new school in Beirut. Arthur had been born in Egypt, had learned Arabic as a child, and was familiar with Middle Eastern culture; it was the natural thing for him to do. Only a few months later, Arthur, his wife Dora, and their daughter Gillian, sailed from the shores of England and eventually landed in Beirut, Lebanon. It was an act of faith and the beginning of the journey we continue today.